A reason to stay, p.11
A Reason to Stay, page 11
“I’d be happy to show you around. I own about two hundred and fifty acres here. It’s taken me a few years to build up my herd to be profitable. But I don’t require much. God’s been good to me and has given me everything I need to survive and enjoy life. I get to ride my horse and my ATV and appreciate the Colorado land and weather.”
“Colorado has been a wonderful experience for me,” Emma said. “I was born and raised in a suburb of Chicago, and we got lots of snow there. But for the past eleven years, I’ve lived in Southern California, so experiencing snow again is a real treat for me.”
“California, huh? What brings you up to Whispering Pines, then?”
“Long story,” Sharpe interrupted, giving her an out if she wanted one. She caught his eye and wordlessly thanked him for stepping in.
“Just family matters,” Emma answered vaguely. “My grandmother lives in town. Sharpe said you two were best friends in high school?”
It was clearly an attempt at a change of subject, and Emma looked tense until David answered.
“Yes, we played football together.”
Emma looked relieved that David followed her train of thought, but if David noticed, he didn’t let on.
“Did he tell you I tried to get him to enlist in the army with me?” David continued.
“You know I couldn’t,” Sharpe said, feeling that oh-so-familiar stab of guilt whenever the subject was brought up. What would have happened if he’d chosen to abandon his responsibilities and entered the military with David instead? Could he maybe have saved him from losing his arm? Or from ending up on the streets on drugs?
He knew those kinds of thoughts didn’t do anyone any good. The past was the past and couldn’t be changed even if he wanted to. He’d made the best decision he could at the time. There was no sense rehashing it, so he purposefully pushed those thoughts away.
“That’s my friend,” David said, patting Sharpe’s shoulder affectionately. “Always taking care of everyone. He may have wanted to enlist with me, but he had to stay behind to take care of his family. They needed him. And he did a good job at that, didn’t he? The Winslow family has thrived, and Winslow’s Woodlands is a total success by every measure.”
“It certainly is. He’s made a real difference out there,” Emma agreed.
“I also took Emma and Aidan out to meet Mongoose and volunteer at the shelter,” Sharpe said.
Emma’s gaze widened in surprise. Perhaps she thought he wouldn’t bring up such a touchy subject with David, given what she knew of his friend’s past, but Sharpe thought David would want to know.
“Is that a fact?” David replied, turning his attention to Emma. “What did you think of the old coot?”
“If you’re referring to Mongoose, I liked him very much,” Emma replied with a smile. “And there’s nothing old about him. He’s in perfect shape, and I wouldn’t want to meet him in a dark alley.”
“I’ll say,” David agreed. “Did they tell you how he got his name?”
“Sharpe told me,” Emma said. “And I believe him.”
“You and me both,” David said. “I feel sorry for any snake that gets in his way.”
“Mongoose isn’t the only one with a nickname at the shelter,” Sharpe said proudly. “Emma managed to pick one up after just one day.”
“Really? I’m intrigued.” David crossed his good arm over his chest.
“It’s not that big of a deal,” Emma said, gesturing with her hand. “Honestly.”
“It’s a big deal to the men who were there that day. They christened her the Coffee Lady. She took it upon herself to make sure everyone had a hot mug of coffee, and she even filled their thermoses for them.”
“The next time she goes back, you ought to get her a T-shirt that says Coffee Lady.”
Emma’s face instantly fell, and her look pierced right into Sharpe’s heart.
“I’m afraid that as much as I want to, I won’t be going back to visit. I really loved helping out at the shelter, but unfortunately, I have to return to California in two weeks to go back to work.”
“After Thanksgiving, though, right?” Sharpe asked, holding his breath for the answer. They hadn’t yet talked specifics.
“Yes. The Saturday after Thanksgiving.”
“Then you’ll be sharing Thanksgiving dinner with the Winslows,” David said, more of a statement than a question.
“Oh, no, I—” she started, but Sharpe jumped in before she could finish.
“Of course she is. My gramps has already invited the whole Fitzpatrick family. He’s crushing on Emma’s nan, which is hilarious. And, David, you know you’re always welcome at our table.”
“You know how much I enjoy spending time with you guys, but Mom has invited me down to Oklahoma for dinner this year.”
“Nice.”
“Yeah. My brother and his wife and their two little ones are going to be there, as well. I don’t get to see my nephews as often as I’d like, so I’m really looking forward to it.”
Sharpe knew how much David wanted a family of his own and said a quick prayer that David’s Thanksgiving with his extended family would go well. It was tough to see your siblings married and settled down when you weren’t, which wasn’t something Sharpe had given much thought to until recently. For most of his life it hadn’t bothered him at all, but lately, thoughts of a wife and kids had crept into his mind, surprising him with their intensity.
Thanksgiving Day, though, was going to be great for Emma, especially since she wanted to go back to the shelter one more time. She didn’t yet know she’d actually have the opportunity to visit, as the Winslows made a practice of serving a Thanksgiving meal for the veterans before returning home for turkey with all the fixings.
“Do you want to go see the sheep?” David asked Emma, and she nodded enthusiastically. David whistled, and Axel immediately returned to his side at a run, quickly followed by Baloo and then Aidan. Sharpe got a kick out of that.
Chapter Eight
They walked over to the nearest field behind David’s farmhouse, where a small herd of sheep loitered against the far fence, each one of them dotted with a spot of blue or green paint. Emma wondered if they were going to have to walk all the way up the hill to the far side of the fence in order to better see the sheep. As it was now, they’d need binoculars to get a close look.
“You paint your sheep?” she asked, amused. “White isn’t your color?” How, she wondered, did he choose which ones he wanted to paint green and which to paint blue?
“Well, technically I only dab paint on the rams’ bellies. I’ve got two rams, so that’s why there’s green and blue. That way I know which ewes are going to be mamas soon, so I can herd them into the nearest pasture for birthing. I like to keep a close eye on the expecting ewes. It’s something I learned on a trip to Ireland, and I decided to follow their practice here, since I have a small acreage and flock. It’s not the most common way to follow pregnant ewes, but it works perfectly for me.”
“That’s fascinating,” Emma said, but then she glanced down at her feet. “I think perhaps I’ve worn the wrong boots, though, which seems to be a bad habit of mine. These are my snow boots, but it looks as if we’re going to be doing quite a bit of hiking to get up close to the sheep.”
Sharpe chuckled. “Now, this is why I really brought you to check out David’s sheep farm today. David is about to astound you. And it won’t matter at all what kind of footwear you’ve got on for a change.”
“Well,” said David. “I’m not really the one who is going to amaze you. It’s the dogs who do all of the hard work. But it’s still quite something to see if you’re not familiar with the process.”
“Aidan?” Sharpe called to the boy, who was still lingering back with the dogs. “Come watch and see what David can do with Axel and Baloo.”
Aidan came to stand near Sharpe, and he put an affectionate hand on the boy’s shoulder.
Emma was intrigued. Though she knew little about dog breeds, she knew enough to know border collies were herding animals. But how that would play out, she hadn’t a clue.
David put his thumb and forefinger of his left hand to his lips and whistled three short bursts.
Whee, whee, wheet.
Both dogs immediately rushed to spots directly in front of him and sat, their eyes upon David as if expecting their next command. He had their full attention, their gazes on his face.
Next, he blew two short, even whistles.
“That sound tells the dogs to walk up, meaning to approach the flock of sheep,” David explained as the dogs turned and bolted toward the flock. David then made one long, low whistle, and both dogs dropped to a lie-down position, their eyes following the sheep but not making a move until David told them to do so.
Emma was completely enthralled by David’s presentation and how well the dogs were responding to the whistled commands.
“That’ll do,” David told the border collies when they’d herded the whole flock of sheep to the front fence. “Y’all are good boys.” He scrubbed behind each of the dogs’ ears and turned to see how Emma and Aidan had enjoyed the production.
“That was ah-mazing! Baloo rocks!” Aidan exclaimed, jumping up and down and doing his unique wiggling dance, his arms and legs going every which way.
“Baloo is quite an amazing dog,” Sharpe agreed. “Axel, too. We have two rocking dogs.”
“And David rocks most of all,” Emma said, beaming at Sharpe’s friend. “The dogs wouldn’t have known what to do without him there to tell them when to move and when to stop, never mind which direction to turn the flock. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
David’s face turned cherry red under his blond beard. “The dogs know what they’re doing all on their own,” he said, scrubbing a nervous hand down his face. “They could do it without me. I think they just allow me to take part so I feel better about myself.”
Sharpe snorted. “Is it working?”
“Sharpe!” Emma exclaimed.
“He’s only jealous because he can’t whistle himself,” David said with a laugh. He turned to Sharpe and grinned. “Do you remember trying to learn how to whistle at the girls when we were in junior high? I picked it up right away, but you never did.”
Now Sharpe’s face was as heated as David’s. For some reason, it reminded Emma of all those nature documentaries she’d seen where two males of a species would face off against each other to impress a nearby female. It amused her—and surprised her—that she was the nearby female. Yet it was clear they were vying for her attention.
“Let’s hear it,” Emma insisted. She probably shouldn’t be egging them on, but she couldn’t seem to help herself.
“Hear what?” Sharpe asked, tipping up his chin.
“Your whistle, of course. Can you send Baloo running across the field after the sheep?”
He stared at her a moment, his lips pressed together. It was only when the stare turned into a glare that Emma wondered if she’d gone too far.
“I can’t do it,” he finally admitted. “David is right. I’ve never gotten the hang of whistling, not in all these years. But whistling at women is demeaning, anyway, don’t you think? So what’s the point of learning?”
“Depends on who’s doing the whistling,” Emma said with a laugh. “While I don’t want to be whistled at by a complete stranger, I’m not entirely opposed to a good-looking guy I already know expressing his appreciation with a whistle.”
Sharpe’s still-pressed lips curled downward into a deep frown, and his eyebrows furrowed.
“I’m just kidding,” she said, trying to backtrack. It seemed to her as if Sharpe’s feelings—or at least his ego—were really hurt over this simple thing, and she hadn’t meant for that to happen. “In the scheme of things, whistling doesn’t seem to be the most important skill a man needs to have—unless he’s a sheep farmer like David. And you could use a plastic whistle if it came to that, couldn’t you? You do plenty of things well, Sharpe—like mentoring my brother, for example. I don’t think there’s a better, stronger man alive to have taken Aidan under his wing.”
That seemed to do the trick. Sharpe’s posture relaxed and his smile returned.
David affectionately slapped Sharpe’s shoulder. “That’s amazing, buddy. Really. I can see how much the kid admires you.”
“He likes Sharpe a lot more than he likes me, I’m afraid, and I’m both his sister and his guardian,” Emma said with a laugh.
It was meant to be a joke.
And yet…
Aidan had really bonded with Sharpe. Which gave Emma legitimate concerns about what would happen when they moved away from Whispering Pines. She suspected Aidan wasn’t going to like California nearly as much as Colorado. Yet the same barriers existed that had been there since the first day she’d entered town. No matter how she personally felt about it, her job in LA could support them better than anything she could get in a small mountain town, she was sure.
If only there was another option, one that would make everyone happy.
One where she could see what might happen between her and Sharpe. As it was, she had to keep those walls around her heart firmly guarded. And that was getting harder and harder with every day that passed.
*
Sharpe was proud of David for all the progress he’d made, fighting his way out of despair, but he couldn’t help but want Emma’s pretty smile aimed at him. This had been David’s moment to shine, and he wouldn’t get in the way of that, despite the way his ego was hollering in the background to keep Emma’s attention firmly planted on him. After all, they were here so Emma could meet David and hear his story from his own lips.
“Anyone want a cup of coffee?” David offered.
“Aidan, keep an eye on the dogs for us, will you?” Sharpe called to the boy as the adults went inside and settled at the kitchen table. Sharpe took the seat next to Emma, casually draping his arm over the back of her chair. If David noticed, so be it.
And if Emma noticed? Well…
“I imagine Sharpe has told you my story,” David said as he poured the three of them steaming mugs of coffee. “Sugar or cream, Emma?”
“Sharpe’s told me some things,” Emma said. “Sugar, please.”
David poured Sharpe’s coffee without asking, already knowing he took his Colorado dark roast black. Nothing sweet needed to be added to make it the way he liked it.
David slipped into the seat opposite Sharpe and Emma and took a tentative sip of his brew, then grinned across at Emma.
“What else would you like to know?”
“I’m not here to interrogate you,” Emma protested, pressing a hand to her throat. “Honestly, we came to meet you and see the sheep, not dig into your personal business.”
“But Sharpe has told you my story. Or part of it, at least?”
“Yes,” Sharpe intervened bluntly. “I told you we’ve visited Mongoose. Emma saw how the homeless veterans were living. I thought it would be good for her to hear a personal story, and yours has a more positive outcome than many. So I thought it would be good for her to hear your story straight from you. You tell it better than I do.”
Which was true. David was much more outgoing than Sharpe and had a gift for storytelling.
“Okay, then. Where to begin?” He paused and smiled. “I enlisted in the army even before I finished high school. As I’m sure Sharpe told you, I tried to get him to sign up with me, but he didn’t. Said he couldn’t. Some best friend he is, huh?”
Sharpe saw the dismay cross Emma’s features, and guilt once again stabbed at him.
“Thank you for your service,” Emma said, straight to the point, her gaze meeting David’s. “We need people like you defending our country, and I appreciate everything you’ve sacrificed.”
David cracked a half smile. “I did what I could.”
“It seems to me you did more than that,” Emma said. “Don’t downplay what you’ve done.”
“If you’re referring to my arm—I knew what I was getting into when I signed my name on my enlistment papers. I didn’t go in blind. And I certainly knew what to expect after I’d gone through basic training and was deployed for duty. It was my job, and I was happy to do it.”
“But you lost your arm, and much more than that for a while. You ended up on the streets.”
“That’s true. But it wasn’t my arm that pushed me into taking illegal drugs. I felt I’d lost my reason for existing when I could no longer be deployed. I’d defined myself as a soldier all my adult life, and suddenly that was taken away from me, and I didn’t know what to do. I self-medicated so I didn’t have to feel anything. When I had to choose between paying rent and getting high, I started living on the streets. At first, it seemed like a reasonable answer—at least, until winter came.”
“And then you met Mongoose?”
“I remember the night it happened, even though I was high on drugs at the time. It was an especially cold night, and I wasn’t sure where I was going to sleep where I wouldn’t quite literally freeze to death. I was walking around the streets downtown, praying God would somehow save me from myself. Suddenly, Mongoose was right there in front of me, wrapping me in a warm coat and leading me back to his shelter. I immediately recognized a fellow soldier in Mongoose, even before he told me he was Delta Force. I’m not sure I would have allowed him to lead me back to his shelter if it weren’t for that.”
David sighed and tapped his prosthetic hand against the table. Sharpe glanced at Emma, who was looking at David’s hand with curiosity, but not in a way that would make him feel uneasy.
“Mongoose allowed me to stay until the snowstorm passed and then helped me get into rehab. I was ready to get off the streets by then. He asked me if I had anyone I wanted to contact. I was too ashamed to reach out to my family, so I gave him Sharpe’s number.”
To Sharpe’s surprise, Emma reached out her hand and placed it over Sharpe’s, giving it a light squeeze.
“Sharpe started volunteering at Mongoose’s shelter regularly when I was in rehab. By the time I got out, I was prepared to find a job and a place to live. Sharpe knew me better than anyone, and when he heard about this little place being for sale, he suggested I try sheep farming. He knew I needed somewhere I could find peace and quiet after all I’d been through, someplace I could get back in touch with God. This place has been perfect for me.”
